


Reel Burn

by kylospadawan



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Co-workers, F/M, I LOVE CLICHÉS SUE ME, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, The Room is quoted, movie theater employees, the feelings have entered the chat, yes the chapter titles are poor attempts at the fast and the furious titles puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-10-19 21:30:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20664095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylospadawan/pseuds/kylospadawan
Summary: “I like you and your three chins” she teased him before releasing him and walking behind the counter.“Three chins?” he asked with a smug look on his face like he knew something she didn't.“Maybe it’s time to cut down on the popcorns. They’re full of carbs and sugar.”Ben let out a laugh. He crossed the lobby with his hands in his pockets. Before he disappeared from her sight, he turned to her “You just said you liked me.”---Rey and Ben work in a movie theater and they express their feelings through snark and 'The Room' quotes.





	1. The Idiots and the Movies

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I never worked in a movie theater, but I tried my best to do my research. Don’t murder me please.  
This is a purely self-indulgent fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT NOTE: this chapter includes spoiler for the movie Avengers: Endgame, proceed at your own risk.

Rey was leaning against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. Her fingers tapping against her skin to the rhythm of the song that had already played four times in the last hour. It was a Thursday, and weekdays were famously slow in a movie theater. Which allowed getting into an assortment of mischief with her co-workers but today they were scattered throughout the theater.

Finn was by the concession stand, Rose was ushering and Hux, the manager, was lurking around somewhere. Ben was on schedule for a later shift and it was Poe’s off day. Which meant Rey was bored out of her mind. She had already organized the popcorn boxes in neat little piles two times already and she was considering doing it a third.

Rey started working there midway into her first in college year. Finn, her roommate, was already working there and he suggested she applied when Paige, Rose’s sister, left. The pay wasn’t great but, then again, no part-time job offered a good salary. The team got along well, sometimes too well. They rotated roles so one person wouldn’t be stuck with the dreaded cleaning job forever. The worst part of the job was the patrons - like any customer service job. Apart from the cleaning, screaming children and the boomers screaming in their faces about of their prices (as if they weren’t the ones who royally fucked up the economy), it was a good job. They could see movies and take those big nice movie posters home. The weekends were the busiest time which meant that she couldn't spend it with her friends, but all her friends worked there. Rey was happy there.

She saw Ben Solo cross the lobby in long strides with his god damned long legs. That’s one small step for a Ben Solo, one giant leap for Rey Niima, she smiled at her own inside joke. He raised his hand to greet her, he didn’t wave, only presented his hand for her to see. His large hand, Rey pushed that thought aside and waved back at him as he disappeared into the employee’s room. After a few minutes, he reappeared, in uniform, joining her by the counter.

“How’s it been?” he asked, adjusting the hat and headset. Rey cursed that stupid hat, hiding one of the seven wonders of the modern world - Ben Solo’s hair.

She shrugged “Sold a grand total of 5 tickets.”

“Wow, employee of the month.”

“Sorry to take your spot. I know how hard you’ve been licking Hux’s boots for that,” she teased him with a giant smirk painted on her face.

He tossed a popcorn box at her and she giggled, content with herself for causing such a reaction.

Ben leaned against the counter beside her, mirroring her position - arms crossed tapping his hand to the rhythm of the song. “Favorite Keanu?” This was the type of conversations they would start to keep each other entertained. Although sometimes it would lead to a major argument.

“Ted,” she answered dryly.

“Excellent.”

After a few moments in silence, listening to the song for the fifth time, “Speaking of Keanu,” he started, “Can you help me with the John Wick cardboard?” Cardboard displays were one of the bad things about the job. They were tricky, constantly flopping over if one dared to do it alone, and cardboard cuts made paper cuts seem like child’s play. That's why it was a hazing tradition to make a new employee assemble one alone. Ben helped her in secret on her first day.

“I can’t, I’m on ticket duty.”

Ben looked around the lobby, in a dramatic fashion to prove a point, “Oh, sorry, didn’t realize you were swamped.”

She let out a fake annoyed sigh and followed him to the backroom to retrieve the cardboard piece from hell. Unsurprisingly, they managed to put up the entire thing without anyone coming in to buy tickets.

* * *

Hux called through the headset for Rey and Ben to help Finn at the concession stand with the popcorn. They went into the back room to get some bags of popcorn that were stored away. Although Rey knew all the dirty secrets about the popcorn and how it was made, she continued to eat it, almost every day, and couldn’t seem to get sick of it. She had already carried one bag behind the counter but Ben was still halfway, moving slowly trying to not create a giant popcorn massacre. Rey groaned at his slowness going back to retrieve another bag.

“C’mon! You’re sooo slow,” she complained like a petulant child.

“I’m sorry for trying to do things right.”

A brilliant idea flashed in Rey’s mind, “Toss me that bag!” she yelled at him, with a smirk.

“No, it’ll burst and spill everywhere.”

He continued to move slowly and carefully. Ben had already burst a bag of popcorn one time and he didn’t want to repeat that experience.

“C’mon! Toss me,” she continued to dare him, with her arms wide open, ready to catch it.

“No! I don’t want this to burst.”

“You’re just a chicken. Chip-chip-chip-chip-cheep-cheep,” Rey mimicked the motion of wings.

Ben understood her reference immediately. Wanting to shut her up and wipe that smirk off her face, he grabbed the bag and tossed in her direction. As he predicted, it burst and, to his satisfaction, a handful of popcorn got stuck in her hair.

“I am not cleaning this,” he said, storming out.

Two minutes later he came back with two brooms and silently helped her. She didn’t repeat that ever again.

* * *

Ben didn’t have much to do. Once or twice someone asked where the bathrooms were but that was the extent of it. This meant that he could spend most of his time talking to Rey. A couple came up to them to buy tickets for the newest romantic comedy. Typical.

“What do you think?” Ben turned to her, as soon as they were out of earshot. This was one of their many hobbies: create stories for the people that came in. Their favorite part was imagining how long the couples were going to last.

“Hmm…” she thought, observing the couple from afar “I’d say… Three months dating. It doesn’t look like it’s their first date.”

He nodded in agreement “How long do you think they're going to last?”

“I’d say… three more months. Six months seems pretty solid.”

Whenever they play this game their answers are always the same. Rey always guessed that it’ll end in a couple of months and Ben imagined that it’ll last longer. He’s a romantic, regardless of how much he tries to deny it.

“How about you?” Rey turned to look him.

“4 more years” he leaned against the counter, his back to the lobby.

Rey nodded “Do you think they’ve said ‘I love you’ yet?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I think that today might be the day. He takes her to a movie, they go back to her place. And afterwards, he says it.”

Rey was surprised, “You think he’s the one who’s going to say it first?”

“Yeah. Because he realizes how lucky he is to be with her and can’t simply imagine his life not loving her.”

He looked intensely at her. For a second Rey doubted they were still talking about the couple. Feeling overwhelmed under his gaze, she moved to grab a small box of popcorn. She grabbed a handful and stuffed her mouth with it. If she kept her mouth full of popcorn maybe it would prevent her from saying dumb stuff.

They were silent again. So Rey did they only sane thing, she threw a popcorn at Ben that stuck in his hair. He glared at her, pulling the offending single popcorn from his hair and putting in his mouth maintaining eye contact with her. His face quickly turned into disgust finding that she preferred salty popcorn.

“Favorite Richard Curtis movie. Go” she asked him, in an attempt to ease the heavy air that surrounded them.

“That’s-”

“Shut up,” she threw another popcorn that hit his chest and fell to the ground. “Stop being a snob and admit your favorite is Love Actually.”

“For fuck’s sake, you know Notting Hill is the best one.”

“Over Four Weddings? Are you insane?”

He rolled his eyes with a sigh, feigning annoyance “Fine. But we can agree that About Time is the superior one of them all.”

“Agreed.”

* * *

It’s almost late in the evening, she had sold two more tickets to a nice elderly couple who complimented her hairstyle, saying ‘it was hip’. Rey didn’t have the heart to tell them that 'hip' wasn’t a cool term anymore. Fuck! Rey heard in a distance, shortly after she sees Ben stomp into the lobby with such fury that almost makes her want to duck and cover. He stops in the middle of the lobby, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. His hands are tightly clenched into fists beside his body. She watched him take three deep breaths before opening his eyes and relaxing his shoulders.

“Hey,” she called him “are you okay?”

His eyes snapped back to her and he crossed the lobby towards her. Bending over the counter, resting his head on the cool surface. He looked like he saw something that made him sick or angry or both. Rey reached over and stroked between his shoulder blades to try and calm him. His muscles seemed to relax under her touch. He peaked up to look at her.

“What happened?” she asked carefully.

“I was peaking around the auditoriums to make sure everything was fine,” he straightened. Rey shoved her hands in her pockets to prevent them from doing something stupid, like reach out and touch him again. “I go into this one. And the new Avengers is playing.”

He’s looking at her, waiting for her to understand his meaning. Suddenly realization hit her.

“Oh no!” she tried to stifle her laugh. He was so dramatic. All this just because he saw a spoiler “Did you see it? Did you see Natasha die?”

“Natasha died too?!” he almost shouted.

Rey winced “Shit! I’m sorry!”

“ I feel betrayed,” He stepped away from the counter, crossing his arms over his chest "First by Marvel and now by you!"

Rey let out a laugh.

“This isn’t funny,” Ben glared at her but his lips twitched upwards in a smile, despite his efforts to look angry.

“You’re so dramatic” she moved around the counter, hugging him at the waist, still laughing.

Ben kept his arms crossed “Stop it”. She hugged him tighter.

“Forgive me” she craned her neck up to look at him, resting her chin on his crossed arms. He stared at her, trying to maintain an expression of someone who had faced the ultimate betrayal - spoilers. Rey batted her eyelashes, as they did in the animated movies, hoping that it would work. He sighed and unfolded his arms, wrapping them around her. She rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him. He had beautiful dark eyes. Everyone said they brown eyes but that wasn’t true, they were hazel and brown, with the intensity of a thousand suns. He also had a long strong nose, a mouth that was begging to be kissed and a number of beauty marks that remind her of the starry sky. Rey wondered if she connected them, what constellations would appear on his face.

“Wow, you’re really getting the most flattering angle of me.”

“I like you and your three chins” she teased him before releasing him and walking behind the counter.

“Three chins?” he asked with a smug look on his face like he knew something she didn't.

“Maybe it’s time to cut down on the popcorns. They’re full of carbs and sugar.”

Ben let out a laugh. He crossed the lobby with his hands in his pockets. Before he disappeared from her sight, he turned to her “You just said you liked me.”

A shiver of embarrassment washed over her and her cheeks turned immediately red “I-It’s not- I don’t-” she stammered, but it was already too late.

* * *

At the end of her shift, she and Finn were heading back to the employees' room to clock out. Rey pulled her phone from her back pocket “I have this amazing photo of Beebee that I want to show you," she searched through her photo gallery for the picture of Poe’s dog.

She noticed a dark tall figure walking in the opposite direction. She knew exactly who it was. In her ears, their last conversation still echoed and she couldn’t face him.

“Oh, hi Mark” Rey said as she stepped closer to him, not even raising her eyes from her phone.

“That’s not-” Finn, beside her, started to say.

Without skipping a beat Ben replied, “I’ve got the results of the test back.” Finn stopped in his tracks, believing this was a real conversation “I definitely have breast cancer .”

Rey faked a laugh “What a story, Mark”

“Anything for my princess”

Rey knew it was a quote from the movie but she couldn’t help the blush that painted her cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ♡  
The movie opinions expressed by the characters in this fic do not reflect the author’s opinions.  
Find me on twitter: @kylospadawan


	2. 2 in love 2 idiots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben are even more idiots [not clickbait] *emotional*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT NOTE: major spoilers from Stranger Things season 2 are dropped in this chapter proceed at your own risk

The five of them huddle in a circle together. It was Friday and a new kids movie had released. Another mindless children’s movie that had no plot and the only selling point was the voice cast. But kids love that. Cleaning duties during the weekends _and_ with a kids movie showing it was the bane of their collective existence. In order to avoid arguments they would draw who would be in charge of cleaning. This method began when Poe and Ben argued that they were always on cleaning duty. Which was probably true because Hux had a personal vendetta against them both. Hux, exasperated, suggested that they chose amongst themselves and thus, the bowl was born. Poe shook the bowl, mixing the papers. There were five pieces of paper, two of which had a cross written on them. The two people who would draw the cross would be the sacrificial lambs of the day.

“Alright, everyone knows the rules.” Poe settled the bowl down on the table.

They took a piece of paper in alphabetical order - that had been whole other discussion in itself. When everyone had their paper, with a nod from Poe they all started to unfold it. Rey and Ben groaned, the others sighed in relief.

The pair walked in the auditorium, knowing it was a race against time before another hoard of kids and parents started to queue outside.

“Alright, Fuck, Marry, Kill.” Ben started, it was a regular game they played to pass the time, the fun part was coming up with ridiculous options, “Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees.”

She let out a loud cackle. Rey stopped for a moment to think over her options.

“Okay, so first,” she resumed sweeping, “Fuck Michael Myers.”

“Seriously?” Ben asked with disgust painted on his face.

“Have you seen Michael Myers?! He’s thick. Michael Myers is thick, Ben.”

“Gross, go on.”

“You can’t give me those options and then say gross.”

He rolled his eyes, “Fine. Go on.”

“Marry Jason. And Kill Freddy.”

“Seems fair.”

And they were silent. “Anyway, how is your sex life?” she said, uncomfortable with the silence.

Ben laughed “I did not hit her, it’s not true.”

“It’s bullshit,” she continued.

“I did not hit her”

“I did not.” They said at the same time, channeling their best Tommy Wiseau impression, breaking into laughter.

They continued, as fast as they could, “Hey!” she bent down to pick up something, “5 dollars!” Rey flashed the bill at him, turning it into the light to see if it was real.

“Are you going to put it in the jar?” Ben asked with a raised eyebrow. He already knew the answer. They had a jar in the employee’s room for all the lost money they found, later they would use it to finance their team outings.

Rey hesitated for a second, “I was planning that we’d have some fun with it”, she had that look, the look that Ben could never say no to. The door opened, Ben was ready to yell out whatever kid had decided to sneak in but when he turned to find only Rose.

“What’s taking you guys so much time? A riot is brewing outside.”

“Shit! Sorry, two more minutes please!” Rey started furiously sweeping it under the chairs. They could never sweep everything nice and properly between sessions, only worrying about major spillage. So they would sweep it under the chairs and, after the last session, the night crew would clean everything. When they left the room, one mom had the audacity to ask them what took them so long, just as Ben was opening his mouth to yell at her, Rey pulled him away from the crowd.

* * *

Rey stepped inside her house, Rose and Finn were in the couch binge-watching Strangers Things in preparation for season three. Finn had his arm draped over Rose’s shoulder and she was perfectly snuggled against him. _Too cute_. At Rey’s arrival, Rose turned to look at her “Hey! Where were you?”

“I was out with Ben.” Rose exchanged a look with Finn that didn’t go unnoticed, “We went out for dinner.”

Finn glanced at Rey and then back at Rose, Rey frowned at their silent exchange, “What?”

“You guys spend an awful amount of time together,” The petite girl said with a smirk.

Rey’s frown deepened and a blush appeared on her cheeks against her will, “We’re just friends!” Her words came out in a squeak, trying to take off her scarf in one quick, swift pull but failing.

“Rey, c’mon,” Rose tilted her head with a firm stare “I caught you guys cuddling the other day.”

“We weren’t cuddling,” she said louder than she had intended. Rey cleared her throat, “We weren’t cuddling,” she repeated herself in a softer tone.

“Yes, you were! By the popcorn machine!” Rose shifted in the couch to look at Rey directly “You two were hugging for longer than a normal friendly hug. That’s a snuggle if I ever saw one!”

“I was freezing! You know how Hux wants to kills us with hypothermia,” Rey tried to explain, “You know that it’s warmer by the popcorn machine.”

“That doesn’t explain the snuggle.”

“It wasn’t a snuggle,” Rey’s voice rose. “And he was only hugging me because I was cold!” she stomped to her bedroom, not wanting to deal with her friends' judgment anymore.

“It was a snuggle,” Rose said to Finn, the silent party in the conversation.

Rey peaked her head out, “Bob dies!”

Rose and Finn let out a collective of groans and curses. She knows it’s a shitty move to spoil something but so such a statement.

* * *

Rey was pacing back and forth in the hallway, Hux had asked her to monitor the area in case some kid decided to sneak into a different movie. She heard heavy footsteps, Ben walked out of an auditorium with such speed that gave Rey whiplash “Hey! What’s wrong?” she sped up trying to keep up with his strides.

“They’re-” he started, looked up at the ceiling trying to steady his breathing. Ben let out a huff, “They’re going at _it_ in there.”

Rey understood him immediately, there were always couples who try to take things to a whole other level in the movie theater. Rey found it odd that people would want to do it in the auditorium when the projection room is a_ much_ better place, not that she had thought about it. She hadn’t thought about carding her fingers through dark hair, kissing a plush soft mouth, _no_, she had never fantasized about that. Rey pushed those thoughts aside and patted him on the arm - not thinking how strong it felt under her light taps.

She pushed the little button on her headset, “Hux?” She waited for the redhead to grunt in reply, “Hi. Code white,” Hux let out loud groan.

They had established a series of codes, they didn’t need to but they felt like spies talking in codes. Code Red was a major malfunction, Orange stood for kids trying to sneak in an R rated movie, Yellow was for popcorn disaster, Blue represented ‘help needed come save me’, Green meant someone had thrown up and White stood for sexual behavior. There was also code Purple that designated when Holdo, the regional manager, came to do a little surprise visit.

“Just spook them out with a warning,” Hux decided.

“Copy that,” Rey really liked pretending to be a spy.

She grabbed the flashlight, and entered the auditorium, soft hushed moans echoed. Keeping her eyes down, focused on the carpet, she flashed the light randomly at the chairs hoping that it hit the couple, “Excuse me, you can’t do that here! Please leave immediately!”

She could hear the sounds of a belt being fastened and curses being muttered.

“If this happens again you two will be banned,” The couple hurried their way out of the auditorium and Rey kept her head down, unable to face them directly.

Rey pressed the button on her headset, “Is there any way we can get a deep clean on auditorium 6 tonight?”

“That’s a negative,” Hux replied and Ben made a gagging noise.

Rey turned to Ben, “Perhaps we could try and dissuade people from those seats?” She suggested.

“Did you see where they were?”

“No. Did you?”

“No.”

“Well, fuck.”

* * *

Rey is trying her hardest to reach a poster when she sensed someone beside her watching her work. She hoped it was Ben, he always helped her reach things she couldn’t. She glanced behind her and saw a guy close to Rey’s age, with blond hair, he stepped closer and pulled the poster she wanted. He handed it to her, with a soft smile. He was cute, but that was it. Just cute. Rey noticed Rose watching them from the concession stand. Determined to prove her friend wrong, Rey smiled widely at him. She took the poster from him.

“Thank you,” she breathed out.

“No problem,” he stood there watching her roll up the poster. “Was it a good movie?” He asked, nodding towards the poster “ I never got around to see it.”

She stared at him for a second, then back to the poster to remind herself what it was, “Oh! Shazam?”

He nodded. She didn’t really remember the plot, she had sneaked in with Ben on a slow weekday but they had been cracking jokes the entire time so she doesn’t really remember the plot. “Yeah, it was fun.” She settled, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

He glanced at the posters displays once more, “After?” He pointed, Rey rolled her eyes at the reminder, “Wasn’t that a fan-fiction or something?”

She sighed, remembering the hoards of teenage girls that came to see it. “Yeah… It’s interesting,” she laughed. He laughed too, it was a nice laugh. But that was it. Just nice.

Rey looked at the poster in her hand, “Hey do you want it?” She offered, “I know you haven’t seen it but it’ll just go into the trash so,” she shrugged. “Might as well.”

He nodded and accepted the poster, “Oh thank you.” He walked a few steps away from then turned back, “What was your name?”

“Rey,” she smiled.

“I’m Matt.” The guy disappears inside the auditorium with a group. She turned and is faced with Ben, glaring at her, they stare at each other for a beat before turning and leaving, almost as if he wanted her to see him leave. Rey’s eyebrows knitted together, maybe it was just a coincidence.

* * *

Rey walked back with a couple of movie posters tubes, tucked under her arm, to replace the ones she had taken out earlier. Ben was on ticket duty and there was already a decent line in front of him. She pulled a poster from a roll. It was the new Keanu movie that was premiering the next weekend. A tall brunette girl stepped in front of Ben. Rey couldn’t help but linger and overhear them, pretending to be very intrigued with the poster.

“I would like to buy two tickets,” the girl said.

Rey rolled her eyes, people must think movie theater employees were gifted with the rare gift of telepathy and knew which movie they wanted to see.

“Which movie?” Ben asked in a slightly annoyed voice.

The girl looked over Ben to the posters that hung from the ceiling. “I don’t know. Which movie would you recommend?”

Ben shrugged, “There’s this new romantic comedy. With Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron.”

“Oh, is that a movie that you’d like?” Even though Rey had her back turned to them, she was certain the girl bit her lower lip saying that maybe even leaning forward towards him.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged again, “With the right person perhaps. The movie viewing experience depends greatly on the person you’re with.”

Rey’s heart sank, he was blatantly flirting with this girl. It took all her mental power not to rip the poster into tiny little pieces, make him sweep it up and shove it up- She stopped her train of thought. She had no reason to be upset. No right to be upset. They were friends. Just friends. _Friends_.

The girl hummed at that, “Well then, I guess it’s that one. I trust your opinion.”

Ben tapped on the screen and printed the ticket.

“What time do you end your shift?” the girl asked as he handed her the ticket. Rey could almost hear the girls fingers purposefully brushing against his knuckles as he handed the ticket to her.

“I don’t know. Pretty late.”

“Hmm… Guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Rey threw the poster over the counter and hurried to the employee’s only bathroom.

* * *

“Employee screening after the midnight session,” Hux announced through their wireless headset. Normally Rey would bounce with excitement, but today she wasn’t looking forward to sitting in a dark room with Ben Solo. She hoped that perhaps he couldn’t go, perhaps he had better _plans_.

They filed into the room. Rey usually sat next to Ben, however today she couldn’t bring herself to pretend that she was happy and whisper little jokes into his ear - like they always did. Ben was finishing at the cash register, making sure the final numbers matched. She took this opportunity to make sure Ben couldn’t sit next to her. Finn and Rose sat down in their regular seats - no hope there. Rose on her right and before Poe sat in his usual spot, leaving the chair on Rey’s left empty for Ben, she pulled him to her and shoved him in Ben’s seat who had just walked in to watch the whole movement.

He stomped his way to the seat on Poe’s left, with a deep frown. He muttered ‘excuse me’ as he squeezed to pass them to his newly assigned seat. He made sure to take a half a second longer when he passed in front of Rey. She looked him directly and could see that despite the angry expression, his eyes betrayed him and revealed only sadness. She straightened her shoulders and shifted her gaze to the redhead in front of them.

“Today’s movie is going to be John Wick,” Hux announces before taking the seat next to Ben. Rey knew Ben was going to be furious about this. Being squeezed between Poe and Hux, especially because of her little stunt was going to drive him mad. _Let him_, she thought.

Even though she knew he wasn’t looking at her (she had checked), Rey could feel the anger pour out of him directly to her. The air felt thick and hot, despite the ACs. She felt a weight in her chest, perhaps it was just a symptom of guilt for actions towards him. But Rey was feeling nauseous and couldn’t sit there any longer.

“I don’t feel well. I think I’m sick,” she whispered to Rose. The girl nodded with a sympathetic smile. Rey squeezed past Finn and Rose, practically flying down the stairs, running out of the auditorium. The door closed behind her. Rey, bent down, with her hands on her knees, trying to calm herself. She was either going to throw up or sob uncontrollably. Neither were a good option. The door slammed open behind her and Rey turned, facing Ben directly.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, there were so many emotions in his words that she couldn’t tell if he was angry, hurt or worried.

“None of your business,” she spat out. It wasn’t fair and she knew that but she couldn’t stop herself.

“None…” he started to repeat her words. “Why are you avoiding me?” his voice was softer now.

“I’m not avoiding you,” she took two steps back, trying to keep a distance from him, but he simply followed her.

“It sure looks like it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she turned away from him, quickening her pace, “And why do you care?”

“Why do I-” he repeated her words, again, not able to finish his sentence.

“Don’t you have nothing better to do?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

She would never be like that girl. Who gracefully smiled and tossed her hair back. She was just Rey.

“I’m sure you have other people to worry about”

“Oh, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”

“What are you saying?”

“What’s your problem, Rey?”

She stopped by the employee’s room door and turned to look at him, staring directly in his eyes. His sad, pleading eyes.

“You. Right now, my problem is you. So why don’t you just leave me alone!” she shouted, she hadn’t intended. But anger was easier than sadness.

Ben stared at her for a few seconds, working his jaw. “_Fine_,” he said through gritted teeth as if speaking those words required all his strength.

He turned around. Rey rested her head against the door, trying to stop the tears from streaming down her face. Rey’s sure she heard a punch go through a cardboard cutout but she didn’t look back to check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! ♡  
Did I make a Matt, the radar technician reference? Yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely not, 12/10 would do it again.  
The movie opinions expressed by the characters in this fic do not reflect the author’s opinions.  
Find me on twitter: @kylospadawan


	3. the idiots and the movies: catch my drift?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings? In my snarky fic? More likely than you think.

Rey walked in the employees' room with a giant cup of coffee from the nearby shop. She couldn’t sleep throughout the night, waking up and falling back to sleep in a vicious cycle. Her mind was racing, thinking of everything that had happened the day before. Or night? Time was a social construct. It was Monday so it was only her, Ben and Poe on duty - the bare minimum. She hadn’t seen him yet, but she knew she couldn’t avoid him all day.

Rey made her way back to the concession stand, dragging the giant popcorn bag, feeling her shoes stick to the tile floor. _Why was it always so sticky? They cleaned it yesterday_. Stubbornly she performed the task alone. It took two extra trips back and forth to bring all the items. Not wanting to call for Ben, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of needing him. Maybe if they avoided each other long enough they could pretend nothing happened, or the tension between them would simply fizzle out and everything could go back to the way it was. She passed by the cardboard cutout they had set up together, now with a punch hole right in the middle of it. She traced her fingers over it, inspecting it.

She noticed Hux was walking in the opposite direction, towards her, Rey was ready to give him a curt nod as a greeting and leave it at that. She didn’t trust her own voice. He stopped in front of the cutout, studied it for a few moments, turned to her and sighed, “Just fix that”. No please, no thank you, no buts, no coconuts.

Rey nodded, walking to the backroom to collect some tape. Ben was the only one there, hearing the door open he turned around, he stared at her for a few moments, pressing his lips together. He moved to leave the room, with his hands balled into fists. She didn’t blame him for wanting to avoid her. But she couldn’t pretend that it didn’t hurt.

“Ben!” Hux called out, trailing behind Rey blocking his exit, “Help Rey with the posters.”

Ben nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the redhead.

She froze, “I-I was going to do the cutout first.”

Rey tried to find an excuse. Ben glanced back at her as if he had remembered she was in the room along with them. He had a look on his face that Rey couldn’t decipher. She often gloated in her mastery of reading the many moods of Ben Solo, this one was something she couldn’t understand, but she felt it.

“Do that after,” Hux quickly left the room.

“Fine,” Ben muttered.

Rey looked up at him, in a silent apology. But she was met with a blank expression. He nodded towards the door, refusing to even speak directly to her.

Rey nodded and went to grab the posters she had carelessly left by the counter the night before. Armed with a ladder they silently made their way to the displays. They were never silent, they always had something snarky to say even though they saw each other almost every day. Things were tense between them but maybe they could put up a facade of professionalism. The whole theater felt heavy with tension. Even Poe was less cheery and impertinent than his usual demeanor.

He settled the ladder against the displays and Rey quickly climbed it. Even wordlessly they kept their routine. She stretched the poster over the display.

“Little more to your left,” Ben suggested. she complied.

“To. Your. Left,” he enunciated every word, trying to prove a point, “Do you know which one is your left hand?”

She raised her hand and wiggled it confidently with a smug look on her face.

“No.”

Her confidence flattered, slowly dropping her right hand and raising the other one - the left.

“Yes,” he replied with a sigh. Rey felt like she deserved his petulance and annoyance but she still wanted to smack it out of him. She finished securing the poster on the display and when she turned around he was no longer there. Perhaps it was for the best. 

* * *

Hux sent them to clean the auditoriums. Apparently his vendetta now extended towards her too. Or maybe he was punishing Ben through her. Or the other way around. Either way, there were no winners. Rey held the door open for him, she faintly heard him mutter a ‘thank you’ but it was so low it barely registered. They made their way equipped with brooms and dustpans, ready to face a popcorn filled disaster instead they were found that people were still there. Specifically a group of seven teenage boys. The lights were on and the credits were rolling to a soft soundtrack.

“Um… The movie’s over,” she tried, perhaps they were distracted.

“The credits are still going,” one boy replied.

Ben rolled his eyes, “I blame Marvel,” he gritted between his teeth, folding his arms over his chest. She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her but she couldn’t ignore how his arms looked in the uniform t-shit.

“There’s no scene. The lights are already on,” Rey tried to explain.

The boy stared at her for a few seconds and then leaned back in his seat “I’m not risking it,” It took all Rey’s mental strength not to yell at the prepubescent boys.

“Fine.” She grumbled, stomping her way to the middle row and started sweeping. She wasn’t in the mood to argue anymore.

“Get out, you little shits!” Ben yelled out behind her. The boys snapped their heads up, eyes wide in panic, they looked at each other and started to stand up to leave. Ben noticed that they were leaving being their popcorn boxes and buckets on the chairs, “And take your fucking trash, morons, I’m not your fucking maid!” They did exactly as he said.

The credits song filled the room along with their silent sweeping.

Ben finished his section in record time. _He wants to get out of here in record time_, she thought,_ I don’t blame him_. He waited for her, not saying a word, not even looking in her general direction. When she finished, he exited the room in front of her. Rey didn’t even try to keep up with his pace.

* * *

Rey knew she had to apologize to him. He had been avoiding her, except when Hux ordered him to help but even then he would only speak in monosyllables or grunts. It was almost the end of her shift and she couldn’t bear another sleepless night. Rey looked everywhere for him, he wasn’t by the concession stand, nor ticket counter. She even went to every auditorium and peeked inside to see if he was sneaking a peak or getting accidentally spoiled. There was only one place left. There was no longer a need for someone to stay in the projection room, everything was digital and programmed so it just ran on its own throughout the rest of the day. But they still had the rooms for every auditorium, remnants of the reel film era. Rey knew which one was his favorite hiding place, usually from children or Hux and today from her. The farthest one, number 12, was the smallest auditorium generally for smaller films or at the end of their run.

She sneaked in quickly, startling him and making him drop his book.

“The fuck-” he jumped from the chair. _Tell-Tale Heart, so dramatic_, she thought. Ben tensed up when he saw that it was her.

He folded his arms over his chest keeping a distance from her. He stood against the opposite wall. The room was small, with a giant projector in the middle of it, making it even smaller and claustrophobic.

Rey bent down to pick up his book, dusting it off. It was worn out, the spine was cracked and the pages were a soft yellow color rather than the crisp white from newer editions. This was a well-loved book. She extended it to him with a tight smile, as if the book was her olive branch.

“Thanks” he muttered, grabbing the book and quickly tossing it on the table.

“I came here to apologize,” she started.

He motioned her to continue. Rey fiddled with her thumb, “I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday.”

“Why?”

Such a simple question that could open Pandora’s box. Rey racked her brain for a plausible explanation but she knew Ben wouldn’t believe any of them. How could she explain to him all the feelings inside her when even she couldn’t even make sense of them?

“You really hurt me, Rey,” He sounded so pained, it was like digging a knife into her heart.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she was on the verge of tears.

“What hurt me so much was that I didn’t understand why,” he said softly, letting his arms fall by his sides, “was it something I’ve done?”

She slowly shook her head, feeling a knot in her throat and keeping her eyes trained on the projector

“Then what was it?”

Rey swallowed, trying to push the knot away, “I was afraid to lose you,” was the best way she found to explain the overwhelming feelings inside her.

“Lose me?” he tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes on her.

“You’re my friend. I can’t lose you.” It wasn’t a lie. She knew too much about losses that she couldn’t bear to lose him too.

His eyebrows knitted in confusion, “So your idea was to push me away?”

She shook her head, throwing her hands up and quickly letting them fall by her sides “I don’t know,” she let out a huff, “I’ve never said I was smart.”

Ben let out a frustrated huff, “But you are, Rey. You’re the smartest person I know.”

“You don’t know many people.”

“I know enough,” He was firm.

She sighed, “I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

Rey wrapped her arms around herself, to contain herself, afraid she would crumble apart. There was such a physical distance between them, it wasn’t like them. They always gravitated towards each other. Pulled to each other - like magnets. Polar opposites that were drawn to each other.

Ben looked pained, “Overreacted?” He repeated, “That’s your explanation?”

“I don’t know what else to tell you…”

“How about you tell me the truth?”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t?” he repeated, dumbfounded. “Fuck, Rey.”

“It’ll ruin everything,”

“And not saying anything is supposed to solve?” He ran his hand through his hair. “Letting me wonder? Letting it eat me alive inside is the grand solution?”

She shook her head again, focusing on a spot on the ground, if she looked into his eyes all her defenses would crumble down.

“No, you’re right. You found better people to hang out with anyway,” he said with contempt.

That took her by surprise, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He narrowed his eyes, taking a small step towards her, “Poster boy.”

“Who?”

“Your new _friend_,” his words dripping with bitterness.

Rey was taken aback, “And why should you care?”

“I just don’t think it’s very appropriate to flirt in the workplace and give away posters.”

“And you’re one to talk about flirting,” she was shocked at his accusation. She stepped closer to him, pointing a finger at him, “How about your little flirtation with miss long legs?”

“Who?”

“That _girl_ from yesterday”

“What girl?” he was confused, countless girls came into the theater that he was obligated to talk to, none remarkable enough to make a memory of it.

“The ‘_is that a movie that you like_’ girl” Rey mocked the girl's voice because she was an adult.

“I wasn’t flirting with her.”

“Yes, you were. ‘_The movie viewing experience depends greatly on the person you’re with_’, sounds familiar?” She repeated his words back to him, punctuating every word with her finger to his chest. Their conversation still echoing in her head.

“God, Rey,” he moved away from her, to the opposite end of the room, “I was talking about you!”

She didn’t know what to say, “Oh.” Rey said deflated

"Yeah! Oh," He ran his hand over his face, “And why would you give a fuck of who I flirt with.”

“Because I do”

“That’s not an answer, Rey”

“Yes it is,” she said stubbornly.

“No,” he crossed his arms. His face hardened “Why, Rey?”

“I told you why!”

“That’s bullshit! Why?”

Her heart was beating furiously. She didn’t just care about who he flirted with, she cared for everything about him. “Because I like you!”

“No, yeah, as a friend. I got that Rey,” he sounded defeated.

“No, you idiot,” she said more calmly, softly “I-I have feelings for you.”

There. It was out in the world. They stood there, on either side of the room, staring at each other. He didn’t move, he didn’t speak, she wasn’t sure if he was even breathing. Her panic rose every second he stayed silent. Maybe they could figure out how to work together despite her feelings. Maybe she could get another job. If he wasn’t blocking the door she would’ve already escaped. Rey shuffled on her stop. The projector buzzing next to her. She was a big girl, she could deal with rejection. It felt like hours had passed between them but barely a minute had gone by. Finally, something clicked in his brain and he was closing their distance in two long steps, crashing his lips to hers. It was a hungry kiss. _Desperate_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG. FIRST I HAD SOME UNI STUFF TO FINISH AND THEN I GOT TOO INTO MY HEAD!  
BUT IT'S HERE AND I LOVE CLICHÉS!!!  
Thank you for reading! ♡  
The movie opinions expressed by the characters in this fic do not reflect the author’s opinions.  
Find me on twitter: @kylospadawan


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